Reasons for Designation
Dartmoor is the largest expanse of open moorland in Southern Britain and
because of exceptional conditions of preservation, it is also one of the
most complete examples of an upland relict landscape in the whole country.
The great wealth and diversity of archaeological remains provides direct
evidence for human exploitation of the Moor from the early prehistoric
period onwards. The well-preserved and often visible relationship between
settlement sites, major land boundaries, trackways, ceremonial and funerary
monuments as well as later industrial remains, gives significant insights
into successive changes in the pattern of land use through time.
The Dartmoor stone circles are an important part of the national pattern of
distribution of these monuments. Although partly restored, the Brisworthy
stone circle is a good surviving example of its kind.
Details
Large circular arrangements of upright stones set into the ground were built
for ceremonial or funerary purposes. On Dartmoor they are often found in
association with stone alignments and burial monuments. They are thought to
date mainly to the Bronze Age, and specifically to the late third or second
millennium BC.
The Brisworthy stone circle stands close to a cairn and within a few hundred
metres of a stone alignment, near the boundary of enclosed farmland north-
east of Brisworthy. It was re-erected in 1909, at which time there were four
stones standing and eighteen fallen and possible traces of three others. In
its restored form it is 27m by 24m in diameter and consists of twenty-four
stones from 0.3m to 1.4m in height and from 0.6m to 0.9m in width. Worth
suggests that there would have been forty-two stones originally, the
present gaps on the south side are probably the result of robbing during the
building of the enclosure wall to the south.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
10594
Legacy System:
RSM
End of official list entry
